Jintian Copper (Group) Co. Ltd., a Ningbo-based nonferrous metals processing enterprise, led the firms with a net profit of 422 million yuan. Its revenue totaled 40.65 billion yuan in 2018, despite a small slip in growth rate.

According to its performance report, the company attributed its stellar performance to the operation of its new Vietnamese subsidiary, and the establishment of factories in Guangdong, Chongqing and other locations last year.

Firms which spend more than 10 million yuan on R&D made up 40 percent of the companies. The R&D expenditure of 36 firms accounted for more than 10 percent of their revenue.

Founded in 2013, the NEEQ was launched to supplement the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and is seen as a better financing channel for SMEs, with low costs and simple listing procedures. In 2018, the exchange helped China's SMEs raise 60 billion yuan.]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377616.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesThu, 21 Mar 2019 09:05:21 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377616.shtml
CATL batteries are primarily focused on prismatic cell formats using NMC (lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide) chemistries, which have found massive application in China's booming electric vehicles (EV) market.

Energy density, or energy per unit mass, presents a bottleneck for lithium-ion batteries and the EV industry, said Wu Kai, chief scientist with CATL.

Wu said the company had developed a high-performance anode cobalt material to improve battery capacity, and managed to extend battery life with a new coating method in the cathode.

He said CATL also used high-end light and solid aluminum material, a common material in the undercarriage of aircraft, as the lower box in its battery packs to improve energy density.

CATL is now capable of achieving a 240Wh/kg energy density level in mass production. Headquartered in the city of Ningde in southeast China's Fujian Province, the battery giant posted 29.6 billion yuan (4.4 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue last year, up 48.1 percent.

Founded in 2011, CATL has inked supply contracts with a slew of global car manufacturers including BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler and Honda.]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377561.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesThu, 21 Mar 2019 03:20:05 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377561.shtml
CHICAGO, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Ford Motor will expand production of new battery-electric vehicles through 2023 and make its first autonomous vehicles (AV) in 2021, the U.S. auto maker announced on Wednesday.

"We've taken a fresh look at the growth rates of electrified vehicles (EV) and know we need to protect additional production capacity given our accelerated plans for fully electric vehicles," said Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president in charge of global operations.

Through 2023, Ford will invest more than 850 million U.S. dollars in its Flat Rock assembly plant in Michigan state to produce the next generation EV. These vehicles will follow the all-electric performance SUV coming in 2020 from Ford's plant in Cuautitlan, Mexico.

Ford also announced it will produce its first autonomous vehicles at a new manufacturing center in Michigan.

Production of the hybrid vehicles with self-driving technology and unique interiors will begin in 2021 for development in commercial services to move people and goods.

"As we ramp up AV production, this plan allows us to adjust our investment spending to accommodate the pace of growth of this exciting new technology," said Hinrichs.]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377271.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesWed, 20 Mar 2019 15:48:35 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377271.shtml
In its annual financial results filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, TCL said the net profits attributable to its shareholders reached 3.47 billion yuan (517 million U.S. dollars) last year.

Over the past more than two years, TCL has sold and closed 63 non-core businesses to restructure itself into a high-tech industrial conglomerate, it said.

Last year, its display panel subsidiary Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co. Ltd. generated 27.67 billion yuan in revenues and earned 2.32 billion yuan in net profits. Shares of TCL fell 0.26 percent to close at 3.82 yuan Wednesday.]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377230.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesWed, 20 Mar 2019 13:33:35 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377230.shtml
The private airline is learnt to be having a debt of more than 1 billion U.S. dollars and has been struggling for several months to make payments to its creditors.

Its financial constraints have led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights, even as it fights intense competition from other low-cost airlines in the country, Indian rupee's depreciation and rising fuel costs. Over 40 planes of the airline have been grounded so far.

"We have decided that either the management lets us know about the progress of the resolution plan and the future of the company by March 31, or we will refrain from flying duties," media reports quoted National Aviators Guild Vice-President Captain Asim Valiani as saying.

The development came after the Indian government called an emergency meeting with the carrier on Tuesday over the grounding of flights.

Meanwhile, according to the office of the country's Director General of Civil Aviation, the current fleet of Jet Airways is likely to operate only about 140 flights a day, down from an average of about 650 flights a day in March 2018.]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377226.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesWed, 20 Mar 2019 13:25:45 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377226.shtml
LOS ANGELES, March19 (Xinhua) -- Disney's 71.3-billion-U.S.-dollar acquisition of 21st Century Fox officially closed at 1202 a.m. Eastern Time (0402 GMT) Wednesday, marking the start of a new era in Hollywood.

By finalizing the acquisition, Disney is poised to strengthen its lead in U.S. media and entertainment industry.

The deal makes the California-based Mouse House to become the undisputed biggest of the five remaining Hollywood major studios.

The acquisition includes 21st Century Fox's renowned film production businesses, including Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Family and Fox Animation; Fox's television creative units, Twentieth Century Fox Television, FX Productions and Fox21, FX Networks, National Geographic Partners, Fox Networks Group International, Star India, and Fox's interests in Hulu, Tata Sky and Endemol Shine Group.]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377194.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesWed, 20 Mar 2019 10:34:29 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/377194.shtml
SAN FRANCISCO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Boeing Company will remain committed to its core value of safety that it has upheld in the business of aviation for more than 100 years, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg has said.

In an open letter released Monday night to airlines, passengers and the aviation community, Muilenburg addressed the growing concern about aircraft safety following the deadly crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (ET302) that killed 157 passengers and crews aboard.

The Ethiopian tragedy was the second air crash involving the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft after the Indonesian Lion Air Flight 610 (JT610) went down in October in Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.

Muilenburg said Boeing will go ahead with "relentless commitment to make safe airplanes even safer," and the company decides to release a software update and conduct pilot training for the 737 MAX that will address concerns discovered in the aftermath of the JT610 accident.

"We're united with our airline customers, international regulators and government authorities in our efforts to support the most recent investigation, understand the facts of what happened and help prevent future tragedies," he said.

He voiced understanding and regret over challenges for "Boeing customers and the flying public" after many countries across the globe have grounded their 737 MAX aircraft out of concern about the safety of passengers and pilots.

Muilenburg said Boeing has acted in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board on all issues relating to both Indonesian Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines accidents since the Lion Air accident occurred in October last year.

A few days ago, Ethiopian Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges said that data retrieved from the flight data recorders on the ET302 aircraft showed similarities to the JT610 crash.

The Beijing-headquartered company said its international revenue grew 118.1 percent to 70 billion yuan, accounting for 40 percent of its total revenue. Its net profit last year reached 13.48 billion yuan.

Xiaomi shipped 118.7 million smartphones last year, marking a 29.8-percent increase year-on-year. The smartphone sector generated revenue of 113.8 billion yuan for the company, up 41.3 percent from the previous year.

Revenue from the Internet of Things (IoT) and lifestyle products, a relatively young yet fast-growing business of Xiaomi, surged 86.9 percent to 43.8 billion yuan, according to the company.

Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi, said 2018 saw their large home appliance business grow into a "robust business unit," and also marked the start of the company's overseas IoT business expansion.

To capture opportunities brought by the coming 5G network, the company expects to invest over 10 billion yuan in the development of AIoT (artificial intelligence + IoT) in the next five years, Lei said.

Xiaomi in February unveiled its new smartphone with a 5G modem to tap into the advent of the 5G era, which is expected to herald a new round of smartphone buying fever and help revitalize the increasingly saturated smartphone market.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Facebook said Tuesday it has reached settlement with U.S. civil rights organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) over discriminatory advertising practices.

The world's largest social network agreed to make changes to its paid advertising platform to prevent discrimination in housing, employment and credit ads.

"There is a long history of discrimination in the areas of housing, employment and credit, and this harmful behavior should not happen through Facebook ads," said Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer at Facebook.

The Menlo Park, California-based company, said it will no longer allow housing, employment or credit advertisers to discriminate users based on their race, sex, age or zip code after it struck the settlement with the ACLU, the civil rights law firm Outten & Golden LLP, the Communications Workers of America, and the National Fair Housing Alliance.

Those rights advocacy groups filed a lawsuit last year against Facebook for unlawfully discriminating against certain populations via their ad targeting tools.

The ACLU said in a statement that Facebook will stop considering users' age, gender, or membership in Facebook "groups" when creating "Lookalike" Audiences for advertisers.

Last year, Facebook removed more than 5,000 ads targeting options that could have been abused to place discriminatory ads across its platform.

To purchase the additional 0.9 percent of the voting rights, Porsche SE had invested 400 million euros (454 million U.S. dollars) to buy shares from the free market.

"We remain convinced that the Volkswagen Group has considerable growth potential", and for this reason Porsche SE had decided "to further expand" its investment in Volkswagen, said Poetsch.

Porsche SE saw its profits increase to around 3.5 billion euros for 2018, 6 percent more than in the previous year, in part due to Volkswagen's increased operating profit last year.

Porsche SE would therefore be distributing 676 million euros to shareholders in the form of a dividend, Poetsch added.

The proposed dividend of 2.21 euros per preference share for the fiscal year 2018 will be discussed at the annual general meeting in June.]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/376775.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesTue, 19 Mar 2019 15:16:26 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/376775.shtml
Profits attributable to equity holders totaled 21.2 billion yuan (about 3.2 billion U.S. dollars) last year, with basic earnings per share standing at 0.26 yuan, according to a company statement. Operating revenue was 377.1 billion yuan, up 3 percent year on year, the statement said.

The company's mobile subscribers reached 303 million last year, a net increase of 53 million. The number of 4G subscribers hit 242 million, a net increase of 60.4 million.

Meanwhile, the company's wireline broadband subscribers grew 12.3 million to 146 million. China's telecom sector continued steady expansion last year, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The revenues totalled 4.95 billion yuan (737 million U.S. dollars), SF Holding said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

SF Holding said the decline was mainly due to the different timing of the Chinese lunar new year holiday in 2018 and 2019. Its combined revenues in January and February rose 13.9 percent year on year.

Also on Tuesday, smaller rival STO Express said in a stock exchange filing that its revenues from the express delivery business rose 77.7 percent to 896 million yuan last month.

YTO Express announced that its revenues from the express delivery service rose 39.7 percent to 1 billion yuan in February.

At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, shares of SF Holding fell about 1 percent, while shares of STO Express and YTO Express both rose more than 4 percent.]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/376709.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesTue, 19 Mar 2019 10:20:51 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/376709.shtml
Benjamin Steiner, CFO of the time-honored company, said the Chinese piano industry is a huge and rapidly growing business.

According to the China Art Association, there were about 50 million Chinese children learning a musical instrument by 2018, and the piano was among the most popular options for parents.

"Thirty million to 40 million children in China take piano lessons, compared to less than 10 million in the rest of the world," said Steiner, "So, 60-80 percent of kids playing the piano are in China."

He said the company's business remained strong over the years, with the Chinese market accounting for a fifth of its global sales last year, adding he expected the ratio to grow to 50 percent over the next 10 years.

Although most of the pianos sold in China were lower-priced ones, Steiner believed that more people would invest in expensive pianos in the future.

Speaking of the uncertain global business environment, he said he has not seen any sales decrease caused by the economic uncertainties yet.]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/376677.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesTue, 19 Mar 2019 09:18:37 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/376677.shtml
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Company Limited signed a conditional agreement Monday with New Zealand's Westland Co-operative Dairy Company limited.

Yili Group, one of the world's leading dairy producers, has offered to purchase 100 percent the shares of Westland's existing shareholders and take over operation of the company.

Chief President of the Yili Group Zhang Jianqiu said the offer would result in an immediate cash windfall to farmer shareholders, as well as a competitive milk payout.

Westland and Yili would also be able to share the expertise each entity has developed over years in the industry, which will lead to increased innovation, Zhang said.

"The Yili Group sees our offer to Westland farmer shareholders as very much a partnership arrangement," he said.

"We believe we are offering farmer shareholders a stronger financial future, and greater access to international markets.

Zhang also said Yili had already demonstrated its commitment to local dairy farmers and its determination to be a good corporate partner with New Zealand dairy farmers.]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/376658.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesTue, 19 Mar 2019 08:04:26 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/376658.shtml
LOS ANGELES, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Warner Bros. Entertainment's Chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara will step down amid an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations.

"Over the past week and a half, I have been reflecting on how the attention on my past actions might impact the company's future," wrote Tsujihara in a memo published by American entertainment trade magazine and website, Variety, on Monday, adding that it is in Warner Bros.' best interest that he steps down as Chairman and CEO.

"It has become clear that my continued leadership could be a distraction and an obstacle to the company's continued success," he said.

Tsujihara was being investigated by WarnerMedia for allegations that he used his power to help British actress, Charlotte Kirk, with whom he had an affair. AT&T-owned WarnerMedia is the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Text messages leaked suggest that the 26-year-old actress was promised roles by 54-year-old Tsujihara during their fling, which is said to have begun in 2013.

Kirk appeared in two Warner Bros. films, including 2016's romantic comedy "How to Be Single" and 2018's heist comedy "Ocean's 8."

Tsujihara's personal attorney noted that Tsujihara had no direct role in the hiring of the actress. But an outside law firm continues to investigate the claims made against Tsujihara, according to another American digital and print magazine and website, the Hollywood Reporter, which was the first to report the sex scandal earlier this month.

WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey noted in a separate memo that "it was a decision made with the best, long-term interests of the Company, our employees and our partners in mind."

"Kevin has acknowledged that his mistakes are inconsistent with the Company's leadership expectations and could impact the Company's ability to execute going forward," wrote Stankey.

Tsujihara has worked for Warner Bros. over the past 25 years. He became CEO of the company in March 2013, and chairman in December the same year. As a Japanese American, Tsujihara was the first top executive of Asian descent to head a major Hollywood studio.

Ranked only second to Disney, Warner Bros. earned around 5.6 billion U.S. dollars in ticket sales in 2018, the biggest year for the company at the worldwide box office.

CHICAGO, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Foxconn will move forward with its LCD screen factory project in the U.S. state of Wisconsin this summer and begin production in the 4th quarter of 2020, the Taiwan-based tech giant announced on Monday.

"Our commitment from day one has been to establish a winning formula for Foxconn and for Wisconsin," said Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn founder and CEO Terry Gou.

"We continue to expand our presence around the state, create jobs, and deepen our partnerships while innovating and adapting to meet changing market needs," Woo said in a statement.

Foxconn said the 6th generation facility will manufacture LCD screens for use in a variety of product applications, including vertical solutions for education, medical and health care, entertainment and sports, security, and smart cities.

The huge project, designed to bring investments worth 10 billion U.S. dollars and 13,000 jobs to Wisconsin, was initially reportedly to produce 10th generation LCD screens, but was later adjusted to meet the "changing market needs," as Foxconn put it, to make 6th generation products instead.

By April 1, Foxconn will announce the awards for two bid packages involving construction of utilities, roadways and storm drainage at the Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park in Racine County, Wisconsin.

]]>http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/376317.shtml
Xinhua Finance AgencyCompaniesMon, 18 Mar 2019 14:20:26 +0800http://en.xfafinance.com/html/Companies/2019/376317.shtml
WASHINGTON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday lashed out at General Motors (GM), pressuring the auto giant to reopen an Ohio plant, whose closure has put 1,700 people out of work.

"Just spoke to Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors about the Lordstown Ohio plant ... I asked her to sell it or do something quickly," Trump tweeted Sunday.

"She blamed the UAW (United Automobile Workers) Union -- I don't care, I just want it open!" the tweet reads.

In an earlier tweet on the same day, Trump also urged David Green, a local union official, to "get his act together and produce," saying that "GM let our country down."

"I want action on Lordstown fast. Stop complaining and get the job done!" the president said in the tweet.

On Saturday, Trump has tweeted that GM "must" reopen the plant, "maybe in a different form or with a new owner, FAST!"

The facility's closure is leading to the loss of 1,300 jobs, and about 400 of those positions will go to other plants, CNBC cited GM as saying.

The auto giant has also faced considerable pressure from the Congress to keep the plant running. A few months ago, both U.S. senators from Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Rob Portman, have pressed the company to reconsider its plans.

After a closed-door meeting with Barra in early December, the two senators told reporters that they had asked the auto giant to either move production from Mexico to Ohio or build electric vehicles there.

The Detroit-based auto company announced late November that it would effectively close five plants in Ohio, Maryland, Michigan and Canada's Ontario in 2019, and cut more than 14,000 jobs.

Immediately after the announcement, Trump, who had promised to bring jobs back to America in his presidential campaign, threatened to revoke government subsidies for the company.

GM's plan to idle five plants is part of its restructuring, which will cut the salaried workforce by 15 percent and reportedly save the company 6 billion U.S. dollars.

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Aviation scientists have said the safety upgrade to software across the 737 MAX fleet is no easier than a plane redesign and it would take a while for pilots to regain their confidence of flying them after two crashes in less than six months.

Boeing said it is working with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop the software enhancement, which the FAA hoped to mandate with an Airworthiness Directive no later than April.

It came after an aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines crashed on March 10, killing all 157 passengers and crew members on board a 737 MAX 8 plane.

Preliminary investigation showed that the track of the Ethiopian flight was very close and behaved very similarly to the Lion Air flight that crashed in October 2018 due to the automated software system called MCAS.

Eric Feron, professor of aerospace software engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, told Xinhua that there was a cross-compatibility problem with Boeing's willingness to make the 737 MAX 8 be "the same aircraft" as the previous 737 models, while improving its fuel consumption.

The geometric layout of the older 737 planes with narrow engines could fit snuggly under the wings as planned, but the wings of the 737 are too low to easily accommodate larger, more efficient engines in 737 MAX planes, according to Feron.

Boeing moved forward and up the new engines to prevent them from touching the ground, which changed the aircraft's aerodynamics, so engineers addressed it by changing control software to recover the same characteristics as the older model, to ensure the new model as "the same aircraft" to certification authorities, Feron said.

Feron said aircraft manufacturers and subcontractors were very averse to making big changes to existing flight software for fear of a complete new certification, but local changes to software, or adding a new piece of software, can have vast and hard-to-predict impact on the entire system, which made things "dicey."

However, solving hardware problems with software is okay but might be as difficult, and perhaps more difficult, than updating the hardware, said Feron. It can take as much money and time to fix a software issue as it is to fix a hardware issue, according to him.

Chien-tsung Lu, a professor of School of Aviation and Transportation Technology at Purdue University, doesn't think there is a mismatch between engine and fuselage for the 737 Max 8 as its structural dimensions have been improved to meet the best integrated aerodynamic design and performance.

But Lu is more concerned about Boeing's slow response to a potential software problem.

"If Boeing has perceived that the accident might be due to software problems according to archived pilot reports, it raises another question: Why Boeing did not take actions before the second B737 Max accident? What actually happened to Lion Air's crash?" Lu told Xinhua.

Some pilots had complained about unintended nose-down situations while flying the Max 8 jet, according to federal database.

Now, two black boxes of the crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane have been sent to Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety of France for an investigation.

"The probable causes of the accident are still unknown. We must be patient and wait for the final accident report," said Lu, adding that "it would take a while for pilots to regain their confidence of flying Boeing 737 MAX."